The invention relates to a cooktop having at least one cooking zone and to an apparatus for detecting a food preparation vessel on the cooking zone. The invention also relates to a method for operating a cooktop.
Cooktops which have a number of cooking zones are known from the prior art. Considered in isolation, each cooking zone is heated by a heating element which is disposed below a support plate of the cooktop, on which food preparation vessels can be placed. In this context cooktops are known in which a cooking zone is able to be heated by a number of heating units running within one another, which are configured for example as circular heating elements or induction coils. This enables the cooking zone to be heated over an individual surface with heating elements configured within one another and with a different radius.
The detection of the space occupied by a pot is significant precisely with regard to the individual activation and deactivation of these types of separate heating units. It enables the position and size of the surface covered by a food preparation vessel when placed on the support plate to be detected.
A circuit arrangement for evaluating a sensor state is known from EP 1 768 258 A2, by means of which a corresponding positioning of a pot on a cooktop is able to be detected.
The known cooking zones of a cooktop are restricted in respect of their size and in addition are functionally restricted in respect of the arrangement of the heating units as well as their individual mode of operation.
A heating facility for an induction cooker is known from WO 2006/092179 A1. It comprises a circuit arrangement with a number of inductors which can be connected to each other in different ways. The heating facility has at least a first resonant circuit for this purpose which comprises at least a first and a second inductor for transmission of heat energy to an element to be heated and a first circuit for exciting the first resonant circuit and for supplying the heat energy to the inductors. Furthermore the heating facility has a switching means, by means of which the heat energy is optionally able to be supplied to just one of the inductors or simultaneously to both inductors in a parallel circuit.